Barrasso-Whitehouse bill called 'disturbing,' 'critical': “A bipartisan bill to boost carbon capture projects won broad praise from members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, despite warnings that it follows a "disturbing trend" and would undermine landmark environmental laws like the Clean Air Act. The "Utilizing Significant Emissions With Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act," S. 2602, would require the Council on Environmental Quality to establish guidance on CO2 pipelines and carbon capture facilities and clarify that projects qualify under permitting reviews established by the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. That measure, signed by then-President Obama, authorized billions of dollars for infrastructure. Backers of S. 2602 are EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). The legislation also would set up a direct air capture technology advisory board, would provide $50 million for research on utilizing captured CO2 and calls for a $25 million prize administrated by EPA to boost direct air capture technologies. But a coalition of 14 environmental groups slammed language that would add CO2 pipelines to a list of projects receiving limited permitting review under the FAST Act. That would "sow confusion at best, and set a precedent for naming particular pet projects as more worthy than others going forward," according to the letter, signed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the League of Conservation Voters, Earthjustice and other groups. Section 202 of the bill, to set up task forces to identify permitting challenges, is part of a "broader and deeply concerning ideological effort" to dismantle core provisions of environmental laws, the groups said. The current Congress has submitted more than 60 bills to alter the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of decisions, they said. The task forces are "yet another disguised effort to rollback bedrock environmental laws and regulations under the demonstrably false premise that protections for public input, clean air, and clean water stand in the way of infrastructure development," the letter said. Yet the bill received support from lawmakers like Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), despite specific concerns. Markey said he thought the proposal created "false hope" in calling for small amounts of money. A bill he co-sponsored almost a decade ago that never made it through Congress would have provided billions for CO2 capture projects, he noted.”

[E&E News, 4/12/18] https://goo.gl/AnbnLc

Trump Push to Shorten Gas Pipeline Reviews May Limit Public Input: “A push to shorten the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission environmental review timelines for natural gas pipelines could limit the public’s and environmentalists’ involvement in the process, some energy specialists said. FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre signed the memorandum of understanding April 9, along with 11 other federal agencies. The memorandum, under President Donald Trump’s One Federal Decision policy, aims to limit the federal environmental reviews of infrastructure projects to two years by setting permitting timetables. Environmental groups have increased their opposition, including public protests and lawsuits against pipelines under review at FERC to account for downstream greenhouse gas emissions. Analysts and attorneys said that speeding up environmental reviews could cut out public participation. “If the environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act is at two years, that might adversely affect citizen participation,” Joel Eisen, who teaches energy law at the University of Richmond School of Law, told Bloomberg Environment. For example, he said, FERC may just give the minimum amount of time for public comment at a particular stage of the project review, instead of providing more time to accommodate all perspectives. The memorandum reiterates FERC’s obligations under NEPA as the lead federal agency in charge of environmental reviews for natural gas pipelines. It directs agencies to complete their reviews within two years “to the extent consistent with applicable law.”… Earthjustice said the memorandum sets arbitrary timelines that go against FERC mandates, which require a thorough review of the entire project. The shortened time frames “run the danger of curbing public participation, which is really necessary for FERC to understand the impacts these projects could have on the ground,” Moneen Nasmith, a staff attorney at Earthjustice’s New York office, told Bloomberg Environment. Likewise, Montina Cole, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Bloomberg Environment, “There’s a real issue of there being a meaningful opportunity for public participation, particularly when you talk about stakeholders who lack resources.”

[Bloomberg BNA, 4/12/18] https://goo.gl/7QXaZg

Federal court overturns roundup of Oregon horses: “A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management violated environmental law by rounding up wild horses in eastern Oregon without fully considering the impact of its actions, a newspaper reported Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon’s ruling could mean that some of the horses will be returned to the Three Fingers Management Area in Malheur County, the Capital Press reported. The judge is expected to rule separately on what to do in light of the violation. The nonprofit group Friends of Animals sued after the BLM gathered up the horses following a 2016 wildfire that made water and forage scarce. The agency had planned to gather up 50 horses before the blaze, but instead decided to do an “emergency gather” of 150 horses because the fire had burned up so much available grassland and made water scarce. Friends of Animals alleged the emergency action “went far beyond what was necessary to control the immediate impacts” of the fire without a proper review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Instead of permanently removing the horses, BLM could have relocated the horses, used fencing to keep them out of fire-damaged areas or provided extra water sources, the group argued. The BLM should have conducted a new analysis of the environmental impact after the fire and not relied on its earlier analysis, Simon said. Lucinda Bach, attorney for the government in this case, said she couldn’t comment on the ruling.”

[AP, 4/12/18] https://goo.gl/rypwVm

Rep. Tom McClintock attacks American wilderness with a Big Lie: “Environmentalists and forest ecologists are on edge—or maybe just rolling their eyes— over a Congressional bill that’s being promoted as a remedy for ailing forests, but appears to be a gift package for logging interests. The legislation comes from Rep. Tom McClintock, (R-Elk Grove) chairman of the powerful Federal Lands Subcommittee, a politician known for strident pro-industry positions and a defiant denial of science—from climate change to wildlife ecology. In 2010, the Los Angeles Times called McClintock “California’s preeminent member of the don’t-confuse-me-with-facts caucus.” The way McClintock tells it, his bill will help dying forests. He places the cause for forests’ plight not only on the drought that has plagued California and the western United States, but also on environmental regulations that limit logging. Forests have become overgrown, he points out, with trees now scrapping for elbow room, water and sunlight. He frequently quotes what he refers to as an adage that he probably coined himself: “Excess timber comes out of the forest one way or the other. It is either carried out, or it burns out.” The idea comes with his House Resolution 865, the Emergency Forest Restoration Act, which died in 2016 and was reintroduced about a year ago. The bill would give states a “categorical exclusion” from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, a law, along with the Endangered Species Act, that McClintock has railed against. Critics say McClintock’s bill ignores science and caters to the timber industry while generally ignoring the interests of voters who will decide in June if McClintock will stay in Congress. Jessica Morse, who will be challenging McClintock in the election, blames him for deeper-rooted issues that have hamstrung forest managers and ultimately harmed the state’s forests. “The underfunding of the Forest Service is the problem,” she said. “They’ve been hit by the budget cuts that Tom McClintock voted for.”…McClintock’s forest bill would amend NEPA to allow potentially large logging sales on public land with virtually no public oversight or environmental review, so long as a governor declares an insect or disease outbreak to be an emergency.”

[Sacramento News & Review, 4/12/18] https://goo.gl/TPqmQk

Don’t make the Border a Wasteland: “The feds are waiving environmental laws in their rush to build a wall, threatening animals like the jaguar. Some Americans think of the U.S.-Mexico border as a wasteland. In fact, the mountains and deserts of our borderlands are teeming with wildlife. Here you’ll find large cats like the jaguar, the subject of my research. Jaguar sightings have been reported in New Mexico and Arizona for over a century, even as far north as the Grand Canyon. Their presence is a stamp of approval — they mean healthy habitats, prey populations, and the connection of critical wildlife corridors across the border. Humans, after all, aren’t the only animals that cross the border. And they aren’t the only ones whose lives will be disrupted if a border wall slices through cross-border wildlife corridors like Big Bend National Park in Texas and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. Unfortunately, a federal court recently approved waivers for dozens of environmental and health safeguards in these border regions — all so that wall can go up. That means the border communities who oppose this wall and fear its destruction of the surrounding lands will have to swallow a wall with no public process. It means there will be no comment period, no baseline research on impact, and a lack of monitoring throughout the building process. And the worst part is, there will be no way to hold the government accountable. It started when Congress passed the Real ID Act. Though it was billed as an immigration security measure, it gave the government the power to waive the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Wilderness Act, and even the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, among others. Since then, miles of border infrastructure have been built along the California, Arizona, and Texas border despite a majority of people in those states opposing the wall. So far, the Trump administration alone has waived 37 laws in San Diego, 28 in Calexico, California, and 23 in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Protected areas on both sides of the border are the stepping stones for jaguars to move through and reach new territories. Without legal protection, the wall will destroy their habitat — forever risking their future in the region.”

[Xenia Gazette, 4/11/18] https://goo.gl/E2YjQR

Justin McCarthy

Digital Director, NEPA Campaign

The Partnership Project
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